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HOUSTON, March 3- Personal friendships are turning sour as some workers cross picket lines in the lingering U.S. refinery strike, with companies pushing laborers to return to work by saying they could lose their bonuses. A month into the biggest U.S. refinery walkout in 35 years, money is tight as strike pay from the United Steelworkers union is a fraction of normal...

SEATTLE— Several environmental groups on Monday sued the Port of Seattle to prevent Royal Dutch Shell PLC from using Seattle's waterfront as a homeport for its Arctic oil drilling fleet. The Port of Seattle in early February signed a two-year lease with Foss Maritime Co., whose client is Shell, to rent 50 acres across from downtown Seattle.

WESTERWIJTWERD, Netherlands, March 1- Dutch church bells that for centuries have tolled to warn of floods across the low-lying countryside are sounding the alarm for a new threat: earthquakes linked to Europe's largest natural gas field. Lessons from Groningen, which lies far from any natural fault line, feed into a debate over the threat posed by hydraulic...

HOUSTON, Feb 27- Negotiations to settle the largest U.S. refinery strike are set to resume on March 4, the union and lead oil company negotiator said on Friday, the 27th day of the work stoppage. Talks between Shell Oil Co, the U.S. arm of Royal Dutch Shell Plc and the United Steelworkers union broke off on Feb. 20 after refinery owners balked at a settlement.

WASHINGTON, Feb 27- A significant majority of Americans say combating climate change is a moral issue that obligates them- and world leaders- to reduce carbon emissions, a Reuters/ IPSOS poll has found. The result of the poll suggests that appeals based on ethics could be key to shifting the debate over climate change in the United States, where those demanding...

HOUSTON, Feb 26- The United Steelworkers union and lead refinery owner representative Shell Oil Co discussed on Thursday a possible resumption of face-to-face negotiations to settle the U.S. refinery strike, which was in its 26th day, people familiar with the discussions told Reuters. No date had been set as of Thursday for resuming direct meetings, the sources...

Feb 26- Bank of America Corp said on Thursday that two members of its board of directors and its chief accounting officer will be leaving the company in coming weeks. Directors Charles "Chad" Holliday, who chaired the bank's board until chief executive Brian Moynihan took on that role in October, and Clayton Rose will not stand for re-election at the company's...

HOUSTON, Feb 25- The largest U.S. refinery strike since 1980 continued through its 25th day on Wednesday with no movement toward renewed talks to end a walkout by 6,550 union workers at 15 plants, including 12 refineries accounting for one-fifth of domestic capacity. A spokesman for lead refinery owner representative Shell Oil Co, the U.S. arm of Royal Dutch Shell...

NEW YORK, Feb 24- Local residents and businesses sued Puerto Rico's Electric Power Authority in federal court on Tuesday, alleging fraud in the fuel oil procurement process that plaintiffs said resulted in island residents being overcharged by more than $1 billion. The lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Puerto Rico accuses PREPA, one of the largest U.S. public...

CALGARY, Alberta, Feb 24- Cash flows from the Canadian oil sands will fall by $23 billion and turn negative in the next two years, energy consultancy Wood Mackenzie said in a report on Tuesday, as low crude prices make it less economical to extract tar-like bitumen from the sands. The oil sands of northern Alberta hold the world's third-largest proven crude...

CALGARY, Alberta, Feb 24- Oil sands cash flows will fall by $23 billion in the next two years, energy consultancy Wood Mackenzie said in a report on Tuesday, as low global petroleum prices make it less economical to extract bitumen from northern Alberta. Canada's oil sands hold the world's third-largest proven crude reserves after Saudi Arabia and Venezuela, but...

CALGARY, Alberta, Feb 24- Oil sands cash flows will fall by $21 billion in the next two years, energy consultancy Wood Mackenzie said in a report on Tuesday, as low global petroleum prices make it less economical to extract bitumen from northern Alberta. Canada's oil sands hold the world's third-largest proven crude reserves after Saudi Arabia and Venezuela, but...

HOUSTON, Feb 24- United Steelworkers union International President Leo Gerard said on Tuesday that the U.S. refinery strike could spread if talks do not resume soon. "depends on what happens in the next round of negotiations and that those negotiations resume fairly quickly," Gerard in a telephone news conference from Atlanta. No date has been set to resume talks...

HOUSTON, Feb 23- Talks to end the largest U.S. refinery strike in 35 years are not expected to resume this week, sources familiar with the negotiations said on Monday after the number of plants hit by walkouts increased over the weekend. The halt in talks comes after the USW pulled workers from three Motiva Enterprises LLC refineries in Louisiana and Texas...

SINGAPORE, Feb 24- U.S. crude held steady in early Asian trade on Tuesday after dropping below $50 a barrel the session before, while heating oil futures had jumped 5 percent in the United States due to operational problems at major refineries there. *U.S. crude for April delivery was trading 3 cents higher at $49.48 a barrel at 0018 GMT. *Royal Dutch Shell Plc is...

HOUSTON, Feb 23- Talks to end the largest U.S. refinery strike in 35 years are not expected to resume this week, sources familiar with the negotiations said on Monday after the number of plants hit by walkouts increased over the weekend. Face-to-face meetings between the United Steelworkers union and lead refinery owner representative Shell Oil Co, the U.S. arm of...

HOUSTON, Feb 22- The largest U.S. refinery strike in 35 years entered its fourth week on Sunday as workers at 12 refineries accounting for one-fifth of national production capacity were walking picket lines. Wal-Mart Stores Inc has said its U.S. workers will get a raise to at least $9 an hour, while West Coast port workers have reached a tentative deal for a new...

HOUSTON, Feb 22- The largest U.S. refinery strike in 35 years entered its fourth week as workers at 12 refineries accounting for one-fifth of national production capacity were walking picket lines as of 12 a.m. CST on Sunday, according to union officials. After the latest breakdown between the two sides, Steelworkers leaders targeted Shell, which is the U.S. arm of...

HOUSTON, Feb 21- The U.S. refinery strike widened on its 20th day, with workers at the nation's largest refinery walking off jobs and joining picket lines on Saturday as the United Steelworkers union pushes for a new contract that improves wages and safety. Shortly after talks between union and oil company representatives ended on Friday night, the union...